Monday, February 21, 2011

My Rides

Just a few words about the vehicles that I drive. If you want to know what a person is like you can tell a lot by looking at what they drive. Considering that the automobile is a direct reflection of personal preferences, lifestyle, and of course status, looking at what’s in the garage correlates with what’s in one’s mind, heart or bank account. This rule doesn’t always apply but it does most of the time.

My daily driver is a 1993 Toyota Land Cruiser. I have had this one for about 7 years now. During the summer months it sees more dirt roads and two tracks then it does pavement. This vehicle is not modified at all but it is still an excellent off-roader. This rig has a 4.5 liter I6 with 24 valves and DOHC. During the winter time this vehicle handles extremely well in snow because it is always in 4WD and it has ABS. Toyota Land Cruisers are tough and the proof is in the fact that it has a live front axle and a full floating rear axle. This thing has been off road a lot and it never gives me any problems. There is plenty of room inside for my kids and all of the stuff we take with us on our adventures since it does seat 8 (not that I have 6 kids). I think that I might have this vehicle forever. I don’t care that it’s old, since it’s not too old, by too old I mean it’s not so old that it’s carbureted, or really gutless like some of the Land Cruisers that are little older than mine.

The wife’s daily driver is a 1999 Honda Odyssey. Now aren’t we just stereotypical. The husband rolls in an SUV while the wife shuttles kids in the minivan. First of all I want to say that my wife loves her minivan and couldn’t ask for anything more. Someday she could probably do with a newer one, but she loves the van that she now drives. She used to drive the Land Cruiser as her daily driver, but she loves the minivan so much more. The van is very nice for what she’s got going on in her life each day. With features like power sliding doors, a rear seat that folds into the floor, climate control, and a great 3.5 liter V6, this vehicle suits the family very well. We have had this thing for about 2 years and it has given us zero trouble.

The third vehicle is a 1995 Ford F250 4X4. We have this truck around for all the things that a pickup is great for. We use to go to the home improvement store, haul a load of junk to the dump, or for picking up a load of top soil. This truck is pretty amazing with 307,000 miles on the original engine. It still runs well but it does have a host of little problems that I am too lazy to fix. For our purposes though the truck works great as it is, and I have done a lot work on it to make it run well and drive down the road in a half way decent manner. Being an automotive technician I know which problems to fix right away and which problems to ignore. The other reason that we have this truck is because we live in a place where anyone who’s anyone has a truck.

So what does owning these three vehicles mean? Who knows, but it could be significant. Someday maybe I will write about vehicles that I have had in the past. There is so much to say about that subject as well.

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